Parents of former Basis students - where did you go, and why
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Anonymous
I thought that was KIPP or do they just expel them lol the problem with this type of discipline is that it is universally applied, so everyone gets treated like a miscreant in your high school of 2,000 if there were a problem at a particular table or among an identifiable group of students, I would imagine that proctors or a teacher or Dean would be called to remove and/or punish the guilty students - but to get to the heart of the matter first. Now if no one accepts responsibility for the initial provocation, it seems reasonable to punish the entire group if one can identify them...... depending on the size, you can give an entire class detention and it is probably better not to single out the few kids who were behaving well lest they be stigmatized I understand in 5th, kind of, because it is a lottery admission, and if you want to stereotype, it is a Title I school, and kids do come from everywhere, but the cafeteria is not that large, and last year the kids having all the silent lunches were in 6th. That really surprised me. What did they miss in 5th grade about what constitutes proper decorum in a lunch room? Do you really think they will stay after 8th? Was it really necessary to do this to an entire grade of how many kids? The rules are draconian, and unless one examines the reason behind the rule to see if its application would further the purpose it is designed to serve before universally applying it, that is when kids start feeling that the school does not like them and does not want to keep them. Rules are rules only goes so far. "I'm sorry I'm late but I tripped and fell down the stairs - or someone pushed me down them." Do you get a tardy? |
Anonymous
| I disagree, pp, at that age of 11/12/13, it's still pretty typical for kids to be lacking maturity, forget what was learned in the year prior, along with testing the limits. DC says silent lunches were only used a few times in this school year, and felt it was deserved as the kids were indeed rowdy at the beginning of the year, but considers things much improved now. I also disagree that things like silent lunches are draconian - they set up a system of peer pressure and students are more inclined toward shared community standards and values. |
Anonymous
Careful with your over generalizations. |
Anonymous
..... I'm actually surprised that Basis parents expected anything else. Basis schools are designed to shrink as the students age. Why do you think they don't admit after 6th? What did you think was the point of all those high-stakes comprehensive exams? A lottery admission school has to churn through a lot of kids to get results like Basis. I don't think churning is really the right word. It has such negative connotations after the financial collapse. But we do indeed have 25 open slots in 6th grade, and we do not admit in 7th, so there is less of a churning opportunity, no? In addition, in only our second year, our DC CAS scores were, I believe, second only to Deal's. That suggests that Basis is already attracting the "right kind of student," because as people were quick to point out last year, we cannot completely remediate an entire 5th grade. So that part is going well. And before I get flamed, Basis had over 40% of children who were entitled to free and reduced meals, unlike Deal (21% or so) and Washington Latin (18%) I do not believe that this much attrition was expected, either after 5th or in the upper grades, and the Boosters mailing state some of the "top" students left. I would just like to know where these kids went, why they left, and whether they are happy, or happier. My child was dimly aware of several students who were planning to leave who were already in 9th grade. My understanding is that their intention was to repeat 9th grade elsewhere. We have confirmed that they left, but do not know where they are - Walls? Banneker? I would like to know how that worked out for them. So if anyone has any relevant specific information they are willing to share, I would appreciate it. I do assume that the parents of the kids in high school are on DCUM............ Some private schools conduct exit interviews, and that is what I am trying to do - in order to predict what will happen in the next year or so. Maybe we are so new none of it matters in the long run. But right now it matters to me..... Some, like NCS (see the "hot topics" forum), have the attitude that if a child leaves, the problem was with the child not the school, so anything the child or parents might have to say is irrelevant. There are apparently parents of kids who have graduated from NCS who wish to address the board on the subject of how awful the experience was for their child, and apparently these children are now at good colleges and universities... So it is department of, you got my kid into Harvard, and I paid you $38k a year to do it, but now I want to tell you that you made my child miserable, or the other students did, or the competitive environment........ It is hard to identify what they are talking about since it is an "atmosphere." But several parents referred to it as "toxic." Thankfully, Basis does not seem to have these kinds of issues. We certaintly don't have any college admissions yet. |
Anonymous
I think it shows a culture that doesn't respect students. I am not interested in an authoritarian school. So this info is helpful to me (though I wasn't considering Basis anyway because accelerated academics isn't what i want - I want deep learning and love for learning - could care less about test scores, including the SAT. Kids can miss the basics of a k-12 education but still thrive in higher ed IF they are curious and want to learn. I know because this was me). |
Anonymous
| PP, hate to break it to you but ALL schools are intrinsically "authoritarian" models. |
Anonymous
I did not mean to suggest that silent lunches are "draconian," having never had one. I would think it would be impossible not to giggle if you are supposed to be silent though, unless someone has made you feel awful or you are scared of them. I cannot imagine trying to control THAT as a 10/11 year old. I am referring to other things, like what someone called "academic redirection," which I did not understand but sounded over the top, policies about late homework when the homework buddy system does not function, and what I felt last year was just nastiness on the part of some teachers towards kids who were really trying - again, treating a kid who is not a bad kid (and as you point out, maybe only 10 or 11) like a bad kid. Then that kid does not want to go to teacher hours because the kid thinks the teacher thinks they are a bad kid, will never give them a fair shot, or hates them for some reason. Teachers taking it personally. Making the whole class suffer because one student did something that was actually bad maybe. Or losing control of the class (or letting a student take control) and then blaming everyone in there except for the person who was supposed to be in charge - the teacher themself. Sorry to be so vague. And I am talking about last year. Especially with inexperienced teachers, who got easily frustrated and are no longer there. But what some of us are saying is that if you want kids to stay for the upper years, you have to treat them with a modicum of respect and dignity. Here are parents saying that their kids are learning a lot, but they would never stay because of the way they have been treated - and I think for the most part we can assume we are talking last year, and they do not all have kids in the same grade. I find an inherent contradiction in the idea that these students at 10/11 coming into 5th, sometimes from academic wastelands, chaotic home environments, and the kind of poverty that made buying the unnecessary school supplies that were listed at the beginning of the year by teachers who don't understand and did not think, stressful on a whole different order of magnitude, and a policy of being docked for not having somehow bought your own copy of a specific version of a book (not the book itself, which we usually could get used) but the copy of the book with the correct ISBN number, these students are supposed to become incredibly responsible and organized overnight at all times, and then they are treated like irresponsible, unmotivated children sometimes by the people who are holding these kids to such high standards. I have heard about kids being reduced to tears and publicly humiliated, and that is not appropriate even in high school. The only school I know that specializes in public humiliation is law school. 5th graders should not be terrified about homework. There are no comps. But they want to prove they are good kids. But as several have pointed out, even a few teachers like that or experiences where kids feel unfairly singled out and/or unfairly punished, or perhaps a year of silent lunches that were determined by the behavior and attitudes of others, can leave such a bad taste in your mouth as a parent that when your child says they do not want to go back you understand, or if they want to go back you worry. I worry about the possibility of this happening later on, when grades matter, when our 10/11 year old kids become sensitive adolescents. For some something bad enough has already happened that they will "never stay." What grade do you think those kids are in? What do you think they are referring to? I could come up with at least 15 incidents or policies or decisions just off the top of my head, and now we have an inexperienced kid running our school, in charge of our children and their future. I was referring to last year. I just could not understand why the 6th (not 5th) graders kept having silent lunches, and I cannot believe that as an entire class they kept "testing limits." Now if we had a tiny 7th grade, that might explain all the 6th grade silent lunches. Instead, we are 25 down in 6th. Those are 25 who will not stay because they never got the chance to come. I have no idea what that was about. But it sounds like your child is in the 7th grade, and they just tested the limits again, found them to be still there, and did not have the same issues this time. And as far as I can tell, the 5th grade this year has never had a silent lunch. I was referring to last year. I just could not understand why the 6th (not 5th) graders kept having silent lunches, and I cannot believe that as an entire class they kept "testing limits." It is fine to say that people who leave over silent lunches are silly, but it sounds as if some are planning to, whether or not there are more silent lunches in the future - the tone has been set, the damage has been done, whatever it was. They will not be staying for high school. At Washington Latin, because of the wikis posted on the internet, it is easy to be a helicopter parent, to bail your kid out once in a while, to stay on top of what they are supposed to be doing, and for most of us, to make sure they do it fairly well. We have to trust Basis so much more because they have no assigned curriculums, you get a different English teacher suddenly there is a whole new plan for the year. We have to trust them on quality control in terms of the education our children are getting and we have to trust them to be fair. But half the time the only way you hear about what they do is from your child, who heard it from another child, who heard it from........... I just think it is obvious from these threads that, unlike in Arizona, so many parents and children arrive at Basis DC is 5th grade not planning to stay past 8th anyway. So you have to give them real reasons to want to stay. They are your charges, but they and their parents are also your customers, consuming the goods that you are offering. And apparently, those goods so far are not measuring up to Walls and Wilson - and mind you, these posters have not been complaining about the education. In fact, some of the kids appear to love what they are learning. Just saying....... I want to hear from parents who have left. |
Anonymous
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Previous posters said: "Amen to that. We will never stay because of how dc was treated, everything you name, despite the academics............. "
"if they want children to stay fro HS, why don't they take tat onto account when they are treating them bad in MS, silent lunches included..........." To the parents of the children who left, where did they go, why did they leave, and are they happy or happier where they are now? Thank you so much.......... may be time to start another thread......... |
Anonymous
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+1000
Please do. Thanks! |
Anonymous
| Is Basis a good place for an academically advanced, good/somewhat shy (no need for authoritarian measures and if applied those may hinder), kid? |
Anonymous
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Would the lady who got "moderated" by the BASIS listserv PLEASE figure out how to start her facebook site and stop posting on here? I don't care if it's a new thread or not, she needs to talk with the administration and other parents directly and stop airing her conspiracy theories.
Her experience it not the experience or even perception of the vast majority of the families at the school. I have a feeling she would have similar problems/questions regardless of the school. |
Anonymous
So is our democratic republic. Elected officials and hired officers (police, fire marshalls, etc.) and work cultures as well (bosses and subordinates). It's a matter of degree. Basis may be too authoritarian for some who are internally motivated and self regulated to need the draconian policies and punishments. |
Anonymous
FARMs for 2013 Deal - 23% Basis - exactly 40% Latin - 19% |
Anonymous
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[quote=Anonymous]Basis may be too authoritarian for some who are internally motivated and self regulated to need the draconian policies and punishments. [/quote]
This; please speak to your Basis experiences around the above. |
Anonymous
That describes our DC well and we think it's a good place... Better experience for DC this year than last year. |